Bump in the Night
by Matrix-Twin1
Summary: Love is in the air at Hogwarts when two new girls arrive. But, these girls have secrets, almost as many as Sirius, James and Remus. Oooh, what will happen? :D
1. New Girl

James sighed, rolling his eyes in Sirius's direction. His friend grinned back, shrugging, giving a 'hard luck, mate' look. With a final kiss, James' mom unlatched her arms from around him, turning on Sirius. Reflexively, Sirius took a step backward, but Mrs. Potter was not dissuaded.

"Can't forget you, Sirius, dear!"

James grinned evilly, "'course not, 'Sirius dear'."

"Er, yes... Thanks, mum..."

Mrs. Potter wiped a tear from her eye "Now, my boys, be good, have fun, and..."

"Mum! We're going to miss the train!" With one easy leap, James threw his athletic figure onto the Hogwarts Express, followed by an ungainly, doggish bound by Sirius.

Unfortunately, James hadn't seen the girl standing in the doorway, wrestling a spitting, black, male cat on board. He hit her full on in the back, sending her tumbling. The cat, glad to be free, leapt for the open door, but took one look at Sirius and ran off down the hall.

Picking herself up huffily, ignoring James' proffered hand, the girl glared at the pair as the train started out.

Pulling his hand back quickly and tossing messy black hair, James feigned indifference "Watch it!"

The girl snarled back, "You watch it, Broom Boy!"

He was surprised that she knew about his Quiddich, he couldn't remember seeing her before. As she moved down the hall, calling "Fate! Fate!" he noticed her hair. It was very odd; shoulder length, dark red-gold, but with black spots carefully dyed into it. He blinked, turning to Sirius.

Sirius smirked, "Oh, what a ladies man!"

"Oh, hush up..."

"What was she going on about fate for? You hit her head or something?"

James sighed, exasperated and embarrassed, "Her cat, obviously. C'mon, let's find Remus."

Waving one lean hand down the train dramatically, Sirius proclaimed "Lead on, 'Broom Boy'".

James tried to hide his grin. Who was that girl? Why had he never noticed her? "...like a leopard..." he muttered.

Sirius blinked. "What are you talking about?"

"Her hair."

"Wha—" he glanced at the retreating girl, puzzled. "Oh... her hair... Whatever, she's just a weird girl, let's go!"

"There you are!" Tal called, spying Fate after a first-year's rat. "Bad kitty!" She scooped him up, absently patting his head, leaving quickly as the other student's glances turned nasty.

She wandered for a while, trying to find a compartment where she wasn't yelled at immediately. She sighed. 'I should be used to it, by now... Bet that boy hit me on purpose, he's just like the rest of them.'

Just then, she caught sight of him again, sitting in a compartment with his black-haired friend and another boy. She walked on quickly, thinking 'dog' for some reason. At last, an empty compartment. She placed Fate on the seat next to her, telling him to stay. He looked baleful, but obeyed. She patted his head again, pulling out her new spell book, trying to get ahead a little.

Remus looked up from James' anecdote about Sirius, in dog form, bringing home a rabbit. His ears flicked back, and he started sniffing wildly. A strange smell... A girl walked by, a cat nestled in her arms. She glanced at him briefly, before turning away, haughtily. He shook his head, thinking 'must have been her cat...'

"So then," James was saying, "Mum comes in, and there's this puddle of blood, and Sirius's is all covered in it and bits of fur..." He paused, for dramatic effect. "And she turns to him, and says 'Oh, Sirius dear, did you hurt yourself?'!"

Remus watched his friend fall about laughing, and Sirius's pretend grumpy face breaking into a grin. He smiled as well, the strange smell forgotten. "Your Mum still hasn't gotten used to magic, has she?"

Sirius smiled, showing his teeth "Not at all. I haven't had the heart to tell her about me, or James here. Might break her little heart, eh, mate?"

James threw the back of his hand over his eyes, theatrically. "'twould surely break her little heart to discover her son is a hind..."

"Yes, you can be quite a pain in the—" Sirius was jerked forward as the train suddenly slammed to a stop. "What's going on? We've never stopped before Hogwarts before, and we can't be there yet." He glanced at his watch. "Not for another two hours..."

"No idea... strange. Remus, you smell anything?"

"Nope. Don't think we broke down, though, they'd've told us by now."

"Good point. Oh well, we're—" Sirius was slammed back into his seat. "Ow. At least we're moving again..." He rubbed the back of his head ruefully, then shook it, shrugging. "Speaking of pains in the _hind_, where's little Petey?"

Remus shook his head at his friend's rudeness. "He sent me an owl. He has some family thing, he won't be at school until next week."

Sirius leaned back in his seat, hands behind his head, smiling happily. "Ah, a whole Peter-free week..."

James looked wry. "At least you don't have the little barnacle stuck to you all the time."

"Why, mate, it's 'cause you're 'Broom Boy'!"

"Oh knock it off..."

"And you should be nicer to Pettigrew... even if he is a little annoying..." Remus feigned fright as both boys launched themselves at him, laughing.

"A _little!_"

"Bit of an understatement!"

The three happily tussled as the train moved through the night.

Adrienne grabbed the handrail of the stopped train, not feeling the cold. She regretted having to catch it later, in the middle of no where, but there was no way around that. It was the only way for her to get to Hogwarts, and she did want that, more than anything. She swung herself aboard, effortlessly swinging her trunk up beside her. After a moment to shove it into the baggage rack, she was free to find a place to sit.

'Oh joy,' she thought, 'that'll be _so_ easy...' Her feet made no noise as she padded down the narrow hall, occasionally hitting a wall as the train rocked.

A few minutes later, her suspicions were confirmed; none of the students already aboard would let her in to their compartments. She couldn't really blame them, they didn't know her, they were full, they were just plain mean or suspicious... The usual reasons. At last, just when she began contemplating lurking in the hall for the next few hours, she came to the last compartment in the last car, the very back of the train. Of course, from back here it would take _forever_ to get off, but it was something. There was only one girl in the compartment, and she was _different_, too, but she didn't know how.

Putting on her friendliest smile, Adrienne rapped lightly on the door.

Tal looked up. She had been falling asleep. The spell books were always so _dry_, and she never had been very academic... The girl, smudged by the thick glass, looked... interesting... Her flowing black hair was unnaturally glossy, a startling contrast to her alabaster complexion. Tal gave a little nod, inviting her in. The other girl's shoulders sank as she sighed in relief, shoving the door open.

"Hi, I'm..."

"I'm..."

The girls grinned at each other, they'd said it at the same time. Tal looked down shyly. Maybe they could be friends? She could certainly use more of those...

The other girl tried again, "I'm Adrienne, you?"

"I'm Tal. I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new?"

"Yeah... I got tested late, but they're still letting me go into sixth year."

"That's neat, I'm in sixth, too. Do you know what house you're in?"

"Gryiffindor."

"That's great, me too!"

Both girls realized that they had made a friend, and part of their minds relaxed with this knowledge.

Adrienne was so glad. She had been afraid that everyone would instantly know what she was, and hate her for it. Or, at least ignore and shun her. But this girl didn't seem able to tell, or didn't care, or... Adrienne shook her head lightly, hair spilling around her like old blood. It didn't matter, she could tell Tal would be a true friend. Maybe she could even share her secrets. She whipped her head around, facing the wall. She could _never_ tell. What they would do to her, her family.

No. At all costs, no one must know.

She turned back, Tal hadn't even noticed. She was talking about a boy she had met when she had gotten on the train. Adrienne could tell she 'liked' him, but neither girl said it out loud. Tal frowned suddenly.

"Hey, how come you didn't get on the train at the platform? You're why we stopped, aren't you?"

Adrienne thought quickly. "Well, I just live much closer to that stop than London, so we worked it out so I'd be picked up there..."

Tal nodded. She had excepted that excuse.

Adrienne smiled. This just might work. She reached over to stroke the pretty black cat.

Tal winced. "Uh, I wouldn't do that. He's kind of..." She gasped, astonished. Instead of shredding the Adrienne's hand, Fate had rolled onto his back, paws in the air like a kitten. She frowned at him, confused. He wouldn't even do that for _her_, and she... Well, was closer to him. Briefly, she thought about telling her new friend about her secret, but another second made her roll her eyes at her stupidity. That was impossible. No way. No how. Just keeping a normal friendship would be hard enough.

She turned the Adrienne, grinning. "He must _really_ like you, he's never done that before..."

The pale girl smiled, rubbing the cat's soft belly. "Cats usually do. He is certainly handsome. What's his name?"

"It's Fate. Don't laugh, I know it's silly, but I saw him at the animal shelter when I was really little, and I had to have him. I was in 'love', I was 'fated' to have him." Tal grinned shyly.

"That's not silly at all, it's very... romantic." Adrienne laughed, nuzzling Fate with her chin.

Tal made a mock-pouting face. "You're making fun of me!" She scooped up the unwilling Fate, who took a swipe at her cheek. "Ow! Bad kitty!"

"Of course no—well, ok, a little."

Tal smiled, leaning back in her seat. Maybe, just maybe, this year would go better. She had been walked into by (sigh) James Potter, and she had a friend who didn't look at her like a plague-bearing flea. Life was looking up.


	2. Plotty plotty

The Hogwarts Express shivered to a halt, blowing huge puffs of steam. Students poured out, carrying cats, rats, toads and owls, adding their own noise to the animals' as they made their way to the carriages. Remus, Sirius and James piled into a carriage, unaware that they were being watched.

"Who is that boy?"

"What boy, Adrienne?" Tal asked, looking around as she hopped into the horseless carriage.

Adrienne pointed to Sirius. "That one, there. With the black hair. Do you know him?"

Tal's eyes widened. It was Sirius, James' best friend. "Uh, yeah. Everyone knows him. That's Sirius Black, James Potter's best friend. He's, uh, a bit hard to get at, he's really popular."

"Oh, you think I... well, ok... Yeah, I do..."

Tal looked puzzled. "You... what? I don't understand."

Adrienne looked embarassed. "I, well, I have a crush on him."

Tal groaned. "No, no no no. Not on Sirius. He's practically a God. He's a God's best friend, equals off limits to mere mortals. So is James..."

"You like James, then?"

"Uh, is it that obvious?"

"I'm afraid so. But look, what house are they in?"

"Gryiffindor, like us."

"Well then, we'll be seeing a lot of them, won't we?"

"Well, yes, but... What are you getting at? They're popular, they don't even see people like us. Well, no offence to you, but..."

Adrienne grinned. "We'll see."

"What do you mean?"

Adrienne just grinned wider and wouldn't say another word on the subject as their carriage rattled on up the slope to the castle.

As James strode through the Great Hall, waving to some people he knew and admirers, he was thinking of that girl he had walked into. Now that he thought carefully, he could remember seeing her around a couple of times, but he didn't think he'd ever talked to her. Shaking himself, he saw Lily walking towards him, still on the other side of the Hall. She waved to him, a huge grin on her face. He waved back, ecstatic. Maybe she had changed her mind about him over the summer... He heard a joyous shriek from behind him "LILY! OMG, I missed you, like, so much!" A tall blonde shot out, leaping at Lily, who happily responded. James groaned. Lily was the only one in the entire school who could make him feel like such a git.

Sirius sniggered from James' left, and Remus had a little grin on his face. James spun, glowering at each of them. "What's so funny, you lot!" But he couldn't help grinning. "Don't you hate it when that happens?"

"Well, mate, that's why you look behind you first!" Sirius snickered, grabbing James' shoulders and pulling him up the stairs. "Let's get you to the common room before you embarrass us anymore, shall we?"

Remus gave a little laugh. There was never a dull moment with Sirius and James around...

"Come _on_ Adrienne, just _tell_ me! Please please please!"

Sitting on Tal's bed in the dormitory with her friend, Adrienne smiled wickedly, looking around carefully, even though the room was empty. "We _make_ them notice us!"

"How exactly do you propose that?"

"Easy. We impress them. We find out what gets their attention and we do really really well at it."

"I can't play Quiddich!"

"Isn't there anything else he likes?"

Tal made a wry face. "Yeah. Evans."

"Evans? Isn't that a kind of bottled water that Muggles drink?"

"No, that's Evian or something. Whatever. Anyway, Evans is this..._girl_! A sixth year Gryfinndor, like us, and James is in _loooooove_ with her, but she hates him. So, if I made her like him, he'd be happy, but where would I be?"

"Hmmm... Well, we'll work on something. What about Sirius?"

Tal thought for a second. "Well... He likes beating on Sniv—I mean, Severus. Severus Snape. He's, uh, a Slytherin sixth year. Greasy hair, weird friends, no one likes him much. But James and Sirius are more or less on a crusade against him..."

"Hmmm..."

Tal could see her friend's mind working. "What are you thinking?"

Adrienne cocked her head to one side, grinning. "Silence! Footsteps approach. We must away, we shall continue our council later!" The black haired girl flopped dramatically down onto the bed, as if dead. Tal giggled, pulling out her pyjamas as a horde of other girls, led by Lily, entered the room, chattering away.

Later, as Tal lay in bed, she thought about what Adrienne had said. It was a crazy plan, but it just might work. She ran through a list of all the jinxes, hexes and curses she knew, trying to find a good one to use on Snape, to get Sirius's attention. _And maybe James's_... she thought, idly as she fell asleep.

"Padfoot! If you're going to drool in someone's oatmeal at least make it your own!"

Sirius sat up sharply, wiping his chin with the back of his hand, looking abashed. "Um, sorry, Moony... Fell asleep for a moment there..."

Remus grinned at his friend. "No, really? I never would have guessed, based on the snores, drooling..."

"Alright, alright! Don't rub it in too much!" Sirius grabbed Remus in a loose headlock, mussing his hair. "There. Now you look like James. Go play Quiddich and win."

Remus raised his eyebrows, shaking free of Sirius. "Speaking of Prongs, where is he?"

Sirius inclined his head towards the entrance, where James, laughing, was working his way through a huge crowd of fans. "Fighting his way through the adoring masses, what else?"

"Ah." Leaning closer, Remus whispered in Sirius's ear. "On a more serious note..."

"I love it when you talk about me."

Remus frowned, rolling his eyes. "You vain thing. I mean serious, S-E-R-I-O-U-S!"

Sirius made a sad puppy face. "Ah, I knew it was too good to be true." Seeing the frown on his friend's face, Sirius sobered. "Moony, my friend, I'm sorry. What is it?"

"The full moon is in two days, but I have a feeling Sniv—I mean, Severus, is going to try something."

Sirius shrugged, not concerned. "I doubt it. He's a worthless git, but..."

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Sirius drew back slightly, looking shocked. "Wha—Why..."

"Is it because of your brother?"

A dark look came over Sirius. "I don't know what you're talking about. See you in class." Long black hair falling over his eyes, Sirius collected his bag, quickly leaving the dining hall.

James flopped into Sirius' abandoned seat. "What's with Padfoot?"

Remus looked concerned. "I think I hurt his feelings... I said something I shouldn't have."

James put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulders. "Ah, Padfoot's too cheerful to be sad for long, don't worry about it. He'll be fine."

At least, that's what Remus thought he said. He couldn't hear him, because at that moment, a horrible wailing filled the room, and he quickly clapped his hands over his ears, like everyone else. Glancing up, he saw Nearly Headless Nick floating towards them, clearly the source of the noise. After a few more moments of the earsplitting cacophony, Nick gave a little midair bow and drifted closer to the boys.

Uncovering his ears, James shouted, "New hobby, Nick?"

"There's no need to shout, my boy, I'm right here."

"Er, yes. Sorry. I couldn't hear..."

Looking miffed, Nick drifted away again, his dreadful 'music' following him.

The two boys exchanged bemused glances, large grins creeping across their faces.

"That's him." After fighting their way through James' admirers, finding seats at the Gryfinndor table and sitting out Nick's shrieking, Tal had finally spotted Snape, seated at the Slytherin table, surrounded by similarily evil looking boys and girls.

Adrienne pulled a quick 'ew' face, a scheming look in her eyes. "Are those all his friends?"

Tal frowned, thinking. "No, they're just the ones who use him for his knowledge, I think. Like I said, no one really likes him." Grinning, she added, "He should be an easy target, if that's what you're thinking."

"You bet I am! Now, here's the plan..."


End file.
